Chapter 118

CHAPTER 118

CEMETERY

118.01 Definition
118.02 Trusteeship
118.03 Records
118.04 Sale of Interment Rights
118.05 Rules and Regulations
118.06 Perpetual Care

118.01 DEFINITION. The term “cemetery” means the Grace Hill Cemetery, to include the St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery (accepted in 1984), which is a municipal cemetery under the provisions of Chapter 523I of the Code of Iowa and which shall be operated under the provisions of Chapter 523I of the Code of Iowa and this chapter. (Code of Iowa, Sec. 523I.501)

118.02 TRUSTEESHIP. Pursuant to Section 523I.502 of the Code of Iowa, the City Council hereby states its willingness and intention to act as the trustee for the perpetual maintenance of the cemetery property. (Code of Iowa, Sec. 523I.502)

118.03 RECORDS. It is the duty of the Clerk to make and keep complete records identifying the owners of all interment rights sold by the cemetery and historical information regarding any transfers of ownership. The records shall include all of the following: (Code of Iowa, Sec. 523I.311)

Sales or Transfers of Interment Rights.
- A. The name and last known address of each owner or previous owner of interment rights.
- B. The date of each purchase or transfer of interment rights.
- C. A unique numeric or alphanumeric identifier that identifies the location of each interment space sold by the cemetery.
Interments.
- A. The date the remains are interred.
- B. The name, date of birth and date of death of the decedent interred, if those facts can be conveniently obtained.
- C. A unique numeric or alphanumeric identifier that identifies the location of each interment space where the remains are interred.

118.04 SALE OF INTERMENT RIGHTS. The sale or transfer of interment rights in the cemetery shall be evidenced by a certificate of interment rights or other instrument evidencing the conveyance of exclusive rights of interment upon payment in full of the purchase price. The agreement for interment rights shall disclose all information required by Chapter 523I of the Code of Iowa. The payment of all fees and charges shall be made at the office of the Clerk where receipts will be issued for all amounts paid. Said fees and charges shall be based upon the charges as established by the Council. (Code of Iowa, Sec. 523I.310)

118.05 RULES AND REGULATIONS. The rules and regulations for the cemetery shall be adopted, and may be amended from time to time, by resolution of the Council and shall cover the hours of opening and closing, the use of roads within the cemetery, the hours for burials, the decorating of graves, the fees for services rendered in connection with interments or the placing of markers and the cost of lots or payments for perpetual care as deemed necessary. The rules shall specify the cemetery’s obligations in the event that interment spaces, memorials or memorializations are damaged or defaced by acts of vandalism. (Code of Iowa, Sec. 523I.304)

118.06 PERPETUAL CARE. The Council, by resolution, shall accept, receive and expend all moneys and property donated or left to them by bequest for perpetual care, and that portion of interment space sales or permanent charges made against interment spaces which has been set aside in a perpetual care fund. The assets of the perpetual care fund shall be invested in accordance with State law. The Council, by resolution, shall provide for the payment of interest annually to the appropriate fund, or to the cemetery, or to the person in charge of the cemetery to be used in caring for or maintaining the individual property of the donor in the cemetery, or interment spaces which have been sold with provisions for perpetual care, all in accordance with the terms of the donation or bequest, or the terms of the sale or purchase of an interment space and Chapter 523I of the Code of Iowa. (Code of Iowa, Sec. 523I.503, 523I.507 & 523I.508)